For Charlotte bakery, ICE raids are hitting sales ‘worse than the pandemic’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- ICE enforcement in Charlotte significantly reduced sales at Manolo’s Bakery in 2025.
- Owner Manuel Betancur closed Salisbury location amid declining immigrant patronage.
- Increased immigration arrests sparked fear, limiting foot traffic in Latino businesses.
It wasn’t long ago that Manolo’s Bakery was hit with a drop in daily visits so drastic that the beloved business was throwing out dozens of baked goods at the end of each day.
Nearly six years later, owner Manuel “Manolo” Betancur is seeing a similar struggle with sales for the same reason: increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Charlotte.
The local Latin bakery, nestled near the Commonwealth Park neighborhood on Central Avenue, has served as a staple spot for sweets for decades.
In 2019, during a crackdown when 200 people were detained in North Carolina, Betancur said his sales dropped 70 percent in the days immediately after the first raids, CharlotteFive previously reported.
Now, following the Trump administration’s nationwide immigration enforcement, the bakery owner and social activist says his business is being impacted again.
This time, he says it’s worse than what his business experienced from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.
“At Manolo’s Bakery, 95 percent of my customers are immigrants,” Betancur told CharlotteFive.
“I keep saying right now that this is worse than the pandemic because in the pandemic, we had a lot of support from the government, and people were very mindful to support us. But, right now, a lot of people … they don’t know what’s going on with ICE and Charlotte and how our immigrant communities are affected.”
Earlier this spring, 24 people were arrested in the area by ICE and law enforcement partners during a Charlotte enforcement operation, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
For months, there has been an increase of public arrests in Mecklenburg County, The Charlotte Observer has previously reported, with agents posted outside uptown’s courthouse, near a school’s drop-off line and even at a church during preschool hours.
As the number of raid arrests has grown, so have the concerns for the local Latino community and possible declines in business. Those concerns became reality for Betancur, who ended up shutting down his newest bakery, Tita’s Cake House in Salisbury, to balance his finances.
“Since January 2020, business has been going down — especially the last two months,” he said. “The actions that ICE has been taking locally has been affecting our bakery a lot, so we could no longer support the small bakery. So I had to go through a very painful negotiation with the landlord for us to close the business.”
Despite the dip in sales, Betancur does not foresee Manolo’s Bakery closing, however.
“I can’t afford it. This is my life,” he said. “It’s not the first time we’ve ever had a hard time in this business but I’m not going to give up.”
Manolo’s Bakery
Location: 4405 Central Ave Suite C, Charlotte NC 28205
Cuisine: bread, cake, pastries
Instagram: @manolosbakeryclt
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 9:40 AM.
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